Hopkes



Oct. 14, 1952 HOPKES 2,613,734

SPRING SUPPORTING CLIP Filed Sept. 4, 1945 IN V EN TOR. flan/ g Ha /?e$.

Patented Oct. 14, 1952 Henry Hopkes,New Baltimore,

No-Sag Spring Company,

Michi, assignor to Macomb County,

Mich., a corporation of Michigan This invention relates to spring supporting 'd'enailed to the frame having an eye through which the spring end is secured. Slots have been pro- :vided in the frame in which. clips are anchored having a loop over which the spring'end extends. ..The,"clip of the present construction embodies an angle-shaped element having prongs reversely bent ,onone end which are driven in the front face of a frame member with the one branch of the angle portion disposed thereagainst and the other portion extending over the top of the frame member. This latter portion is reversely bent to forr'nfaaloop over which the end of the spring strips extends and is secured thereby. Similarly, the coil springs at the side of the strips may have an inwardly extending end which may be driven into the face of the side frame member for anchoring the spring across the top face thereof.

The clip may be provided with an aperture which is in alignment with an aperture in the reversely bent loop portion for the purpose of drawing the loop portion against the portion projecting over the top face of the frame member and securing it in position by the nail for the purpose of completing the loop.

Accordingly, the main objects of the invention are: to provide a clip for securing an end of a spring with tongues which may be driven directly into the face of the frame members across which the springs are to be anchored; to provide a clip of angle section having one arm provided with tongues parallel to the other arm, the end of which is reversely bent to form a loop for securing the end of the spring strip; to provide a U-shaped end on a coil spring on one arm of which the coil spring extends, the other arm of which may be driven into the face of the frame member for securely anchoring the spring thereto; and, in general, to provide spring supporting means which may be driven directly into a frame member which is simple in construction and economical of manufacture.

Other objects and features of novelty of the invention will be specifically pointed out or will become apparent when referring, for a better understanding of the invention, to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Application S 'eptember 4, 1945, Serial No. 614,394.

1 Claim. (cuss-119) Figure l-is a broken perspective view of a chair having a seat across which a plurality offspring strips are supportedby clips embodying features of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the spring seatillu'strated in Fig. 1, with the upholstered material removed therefrom; r

Fig. 3 is an enlargedsectional view of thestr'ucture'illustrated in Fig. '2, taken on the line 3-3 thereof; and, 3 Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the spring supporting clips employed on the frame illustrated inFigs. 1, 2 and 3.

In Fig. 1, a. chair I!) is illustrated having a seat,

frame ll, front legs I2, and rear legs Hi. The frame is constructed of a frontmember H, a rear member l5, which are interconnectedat the ends by side members It. A plurality of sinuous spring strips I! are secured across the front frame member I4 and the rear frame. member l5 by suitable clips. IS. The spring strips [1 are interconnected by links I!) and the endmost strips are resiliently secured to the side members I 6 by coil springs 2|. Over this assembly, suitable padding and upholstery material 22 are secured in the conventional manner.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 3 and 4,

the clip [8 is illustrated as being made from a strip of material having an arm portion 23 disposed at right angles to an arm portion 24, which arm portions are disposed to engage the top and front faces of the frame members l4 and I5, respectively. The end of the arm portion 24 is provided with tongues 25 sloping upwardly toward the arm portion 23 for the purpose of anchoring the clip in position when the tongues are driven into the front face and the body of the cross members [4 and Hi. The end of the arm 23 is reversely bent at 26 to form an open loop in which the end 21 of the spring strips i1 is secured. The reversely bent portion 26 is sloped upwardly at 28 and may be provided with an aperture 29 in alignment with an aperture 3| in the arm portion 23 through which a nail may be driven to draw the sloping portion 28 of the reversely bent portion 26 downwardly against.

the arm portion 23. This completes the loop about the end 21 of the spring strip which is prevented from being withdrawn therefrom by the offset bent end 32 provided thereon.

It will be noted in Fig. 9. that the ends 21 of the shrine strips I! adjacent to the rear frame member If? are su ported in U-shaped elements .33, These elements have eves 34 provided on the ends in which the ends of the strips are secured.

. The web portion 35 of the elements 33 is anchored in the loop formed by the reversely bent portion 26 of the clip [8, the same as the end 21 of the'spring strip when secured in the clips l8 attached to the front frame member I4.

The U-shaped element 33 is illustrated and described in the copending application of Andrew Mouw, Serial No;468,535, filed December-10,1942, and assigned'to' the assignee of the present invention. This element permits the rear end 21 of the springstrip to deflect downwardly below the top of the rear frame element l when a load is applied to the spring strips. This permits the seating surface to assumea desirable contour at substantially right angles to said first arm portion adapted for engaging the outer face of the frame element, the free end of said second arm portion extending inwardly under said first arm portion and formed to provide a pair of spaced tongues adapted to be driven into the frame element for securing the clip thereon, thevfree end of said first arm portion being reversely bent to extend thereover and form a narrow slot of substantial width open outwardly of the frame when secured to .the frame element in position to receive the spring which applies a tension to the clip inthe direction in which said tongues are when occupied forproviding a more uniform distribution of the load over the entire surface of the seat.

The coil springs 21 which join the convolutions of the strips to the side frame members 16 have a hook 36 on one end which hooks over the wire .of the, convolution of the spring strip. 1 The projecting: wire portion 31011 the oppositeend is de- Iflect'eddownwardly at 38-and inwardly at 39- in the shape of a staple. The portion 39 is driven into the face and body portion of the side members 1-5 with the projecting portion 37 resting on the top surface of the side members to securely anchor the coil springs in'position. The clips i8 and the coil springs 2| are rigidly secured to the frame members l6, l5 and 16 by having the tongues 25 pfg-theclipsi8 and the projecting ends 39 of the coil springs 21 driven directly into the members. It is only necessary thereafter to hook the ends '27 of: the spring strips over the loops of the clips and the. eyes ofthe coil springs 2|. over the ad'- jace'nt, convolutions to complete the assembly.

.:. .Wha' t is claimed is: 1

Atclip for supporting a spring, said clip beingmad of strap material having an arm portion to be disposed across the edge of a frame in engagement therewith and a second arm portion driven, said reversely bent .end portion and said first arm portion each having an aperture therethrough disposed in aligned relation to each other to receive a nail which may be driven therethrough into the frame element for closing the slot after the end of the spring has been secured therein. f HENRY 'HOPKES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file'ofthis patent; e I 7 UNITED STATES, PATENTS 

